


What I'm Trying To Say

by amathela



Category: Star Trek: Reboot
Genre: Communication Failure, F/M, Friendship, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-19
Updated: 2009-07-19
Packaged: 2017-11-16 16:23:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amathela/pseuds/amathela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gaila only wanted to do something nice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What I'm Trying To Say

Gaila only wanted to do something nice.

She tries sex, first, because that's what she knows, it's what she's great at, and it's the one thing they have in common, after all. She even goes out of her way to learn something new, practises until she gets it right. It doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice - not when she's enjoying it, too, or when the last of her partners offers to do her homework in addition to letting her experiment on him - but that's okay. She's sure Jim will still appreciate it, even if her methods aren't entirely selfless.

Only, it doesn't work. Maybe she practised a little too much. In the end, she comes three times, and Jim only comes twice, and Gaila feels like she entirely failed at giving him a token of appreciation.

He doesn't seem to mind, but he doesn't say anything, either, about all the extra effort she put in. She decides to take it as a compliment; maybe she's _always_ that good.

She's just going to have to try something different.

-

Uhura prides herself on being able to read people, but sometimes, Gaila doesn't make it particularly hard.

"What's wrong?" she asks, after the seventh time she turns around to find Gaila watching her.

"How do you do something nice for someone?" Gaila asks.

Uhura considers the question for a moment. "It depends on the situation."

"There's this guy," Gaila says, and Uhura thinks, _of course there is._ "And he really seems to get me. He says yes to everything, and he never judges me, and I just ... wanted to let him know I appreciate it."

Uhura understands, she thinks. It can be difficult to find someone who values the same things you do. Who sees things the same way you do.

It's hard enough when you're surrounded by people who are mostly your own species.

"Well," she says, "have you considered just telling him?"

-

He doesn't react the way she expects him to.

"Jim," she says. "I think I love you."

She was sure it was the right thing to say. She's heard the girls in her dorm talk about the importance of it. She's studied human texts that treat it as the ultimate expression of appreciation for a sexual partner.

But when she says it, he only says, "That's so weird," and he doesn't even say it back.

She wonders if she said it right.

-

Maybe what she needs, she thinks, is a gift.

Not words, and not actions, because those seem to be so easily misinterpreted. Something solid, something she can place in his hands. It's a good plan.

In the end, she settles on a card. _Tell someone what they mean to you,_ the sign proclaims; it seems like fate.

"I'm looking for a card," she says, when she can't seem to find the right one. Human relationships are so limiting, sometimes; there's nothing in the store at all that says _thank you for the great sex._

The salesperson seems really nice until she explains what kind of card she needs.

"I don't think we have any cards for that," he says. Unnecessarily. She knows they don't make cards like that, or she would have found one already. What she's looking for is guidance.

He's blushing, and she feels a little less impatient. She's getting better at cultural sensitivity and understanding, she thinks. She knows most people don't like to talk about sex with strangers, even if she doesn't quite understand why, but he'd _asked._

"Maybe," he says, "a thank you card?"

It's not exactly what she was looking for, but she thinks she could make it work.

She smiles. "Better make that two."

-

Kirk hasn't seen Gaila since ... well, since that night, and he's a little nervous when she invites him back to her room. For two reasons.

Uhura isn't there, which helps, but then Gaila hands him an envelope, which doesn't. Bad enough the looks he was getting after the Kobayashi Maru; what he needs now is some good old-fashioned (or not) sex, not more declarations of love from the girl who inadvertently helped him cheat.

"What is it?" he asks. Her expression isn't giving him any hints.

"Just open it," she says.

Inside there's a card, with no writing on the front but _thank you._ Inside, there are only two things written; his name, and Gaila's.

"A thank you card?"

"For ..." She shrugs. "Sex. And stuff."

A thank you card for sex. It's certainly new.

"Look, I just wanted to do something nice, all right? If you don't like it, then I'm done."

He feels a moment of dull panic before he realises she's probably talking about being done with the grand gestures, not with their ... relationship, or whatever it is. Not a relationship. He's annoyed with himself almost immediately for feeling anything.

"I like it," he says, because it's kind of cool having a sex card, not because he doesn't want her to kick him out. "Thank you."

She grins, and reaches for his shirt, and he supposes they're over the rough patch. But as he kicks off his pants, he glances over at the next bed - Uhura's, he knows now - and sees a card.

No writing, just Gaila's name, and Uhura's.

That's probably going to stick with him.


End file.
